A Clawed Friendship: Deleted Chapters
by KingofShadows2019
Summary: These are some parts that didn't make it into the original story or cut from it.
1. Chapter 1

_Rain forests district: 10:50 pm._

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The thick fog and heavy rain created the perfect cover for her to lurk in the night without being noticed. The black cloak she wore, soaked with ice-cold rain, latched onto to the black shirt and black jeans she wore underneath it. Her teeth clattered when a gush of wind ran through her soaked clothes and wool. She cursed under her breath as she walked through the plants and trees that were all taller than her. She wished she hadn't left her car back on the road, which was at least thirty minutes away. But the person she'd hired told her to come on foot, during night hours—late, if possible. Unfortunately, she couldn't come late hours. Having so much power meant having a lot of eyes watching if she was safe or not . She was lucky she made it to the rainforest district without being caught by anyone—she had the black cloak to thank for hiding her identity, but not so much with the rain. Oh the rain was so cold, as well as the wind and the plants she pushed out of her way. She wished she'd brought something thicker—water proof. But she needed to do this, however things turned out. She spent so many years working on this plan—six years she worked. Testing. Making sure there would be no set backs and all success, and she was so close, too. She just needed to get rid of that dammed fox, Nick Wilde, and that overpowered soldier, Jonas Wolfson. Then, everything would be fine. And the world would be fixed. The world being fixed—that was her dream since she was a kid. It had been her dream ever since the incident involving her father so many years ago. She suddenly noticed that she was clutching the watch on her right wrist—her father's watch. Given to her by her mother at her father's funeral. She would never forget the sorrow and agony in her mother's eyes when she handed it to her. She told her to keep it safe… And she did. For 30 years she kept it safe.

The savage attacks, Jamal's death, throwing Lionheart in jail—She wasn't doing this for herself, she was doing this for her father. For revenge.

A sudden bright light tore through the darkness. In less than a second, Bellwether had her back against a tree. She pulled her hood over her head, just then jaguars—two predators— came walking past the sheep, having a conversation that she payed no attention to. She couldn't pay attention because of the anger that boiled in her soul. Revenge consumed her and guided her ever move.

The cloaked sheep managed to hear a few words of the conversation: they were talking about when would they have kids and other relationship stuff. A couple—a married couple. _Why would they be in this part of the rain forest district?_ She couldn't care less.

"Dammed predators." Bellwether hissed under her breath. An evil plan conjured itself in her head, and she smiled. The sheep reached for a pistol at her waist (which she held in case the assassin she'd meet tried something sneaky) and held it at two predators walking past her.

Two shots was all it took to kill both predators. Bellwether smiled, and stalked past the two dead jaguars. Those two predators were a already married couple, planning to have kids. _Good_. The less predators in this world, the better. And she continued on as if nothing had happened.

The assassin she'd hired was male. She knew that much about him. His voice had been deep over the phone—unnaturally deep. He sounded big and strong; she was nervous to meet him, scared even. The assassin knew who she was and what position of power she took in Zootopia. Bellwether didn't know if assassin was a predator or no. That's what scared her most. If the assassin turned out to be a predator, and he somehow knew she had been behind the savage attacks…

A scream echoed through the darkness of the jungle. No doubt somebody found the jaguars she killed. Bellwether couldn't help but crack a grin. _I wonder how_ _they would act if they found out it was me who murdered them_. She almost laughed at that.

She continued to stalk through the drenched, rainy jungle as quietly as she could, glancing her over shoulder once in a while. _A flash light would be very_ _helpful right now,_ but she couldn't use it. The jungle was almost complete darkness, and the occasional street lights along the roads didn't help much. The deep-voiced-assassin had said not to use one, saying it'll be easier for someone to follow her path, which she did agree with, but still….

He sent her a map to her phone that wasn't helpful at all. The map consist of a red line running from City Hall to some unknown place in the rain forest district. There was no address she could use. Only the map—the map that looked as if a first grader had created it. Another fact about the assassin: he never went to school, she had thought the first time she glanced at the map. Frustrated, she kept stalking through the jungle.

"He has to be somewhere around here." She whispered to herself, reassuringly. She was starting to lose hope and the will-power to find him. She glanced down at the map the assassin had sent to her via her phone. Her phone, which had a black water-proof case over it. She was glad she had that.

Though she didn't have her glasses, Bellwether read through the map three times before putting it away—sipping up her coat pocket to make sure her phone didn't slip out.

According to the map—or red line—she'd arrived to her destination. But she no one was here, or any house some sort. _Damn it! Were is he?_ She felt so angry she just wanted to scream. The sheep instead punch a tree beside her, or… She thought she hit a tree.

She touched the tree again. It was hard and warm… Like a living thing… and Fury. _Fur? An Animal_. No, impossible; I couldn't be a living thing. Then why would a tree…

Bellwether heart almost jumped out of chest when she heard a deep, dangerous growl come from above. She instinctively glanced up at the source of the growl. Her stomach dropped.

Two black orbs stared straight into her soul, angry and dark. Angry because she'd just hit… It. Dark because, well, just because. The eyes came closer as the giant creature kneel down to meet her face-to-face. She took two steps back, almost falling in her ass. A gigantic nose came forward and sniffed her—a wolf's nose.

Bellwether turned her head away when the wolf—at least she thought it was a wolf—flashed its death-promising teeth.

The wolf spoke, "so," he said; voice so deep it sounded like a growl more than a word "Your Mayor Bellwether, correct?"

Knees trembling, she nodded.

"Good. I'd have to eat you if you weren't." He said, standing up to his full height; the wolf towered her by yards.

Bellwether lungs closed when the wolf said eat. _Eat,_ she repeated the word in her head. Predator. She prayed—prayed—that he didn't know that she'd been behind the savage attacks. But he threatened to eat her? Predators had evolved to eating insects, so why would he eat her. Or maybe he was just making an empty threat. She sure as hell hoped so.

The sheep swallowed a lump in her throat. "You live in the rainforest district?" She asked, trying to hide the fear in her voice. She didn't succeed in doing so. And a dumb question… Or was it?

The wolf chuckled out of amusement of her fear or malice. She couldn't tell. "Come with me." The wolf said, and stalked away with such grace he made it look like a dance. Bellwether followed, clutching her pistol so hard she thought it would brake.

The sheep couldn't help but stare at the wolf's strong, muscular back as he walked—or danced, she couldn't tell the difference. He wore a sleeveless black shirt, exposing his giant muscles—probably capable of smashing steel. His thick calf muscle were covered with black jeans that look brand new. And three knifes hanged from a strap on his waist. But no guns—he didn't have a strap for a gun to be attached to his waist.

A normal assassin would carry a pistol on them—or have hidden somewhere in their clothes—, and maybe keep a knife or two tucked in their shirt. But he only kept knifes—and knifes only. And he didn't bother hiding them at all. Is he that good? Or was that he didn't care for guns? Maybe he's hiding one? Possible, but very unlikely. His thin clothes likely didn't have any place to store one—no hidden pockets or gun strap. _And how could a wolf be so big?_ She'd seen some big wolfs' in Zootopia, but… This one was a monster—a giant. Unless… Unless he was…

After five minutes of pushing through plants, they arrived to an abandoned house Bellwether had never seen before. Its structure looked slanted slightly, and a the roof looked old. It would probably collapse in a couple of months.

The paint on the house had been washed off, leaving it completely brown with moss climbing up the walls and vines hanging from the roof.

 _Is this where he lives? The abandoned part of the rainforest district?_ 20 years ago, the rainforest district had been much smaller with a large population. The citizens of the district complained about the little space, and the Zootopia mayor eventually expanded it. As a result, the old part of the rainforest district was abandoned—nobody really bothered to rebuild it or anything. Waste of money. So here it is now—20 years later—old and forgotten.

They neared the front door of the house; the door looked as if it would fall down if anything touched it, and the door knob was brown with rust.

The wolf gripped the knob with its giant paw and pushed the door open with ease, a creek came from the wooden frame as it winged open. The house was dipped in complete darkness, the only light source being the holes in the roof, which didn't provide much illumination anyway.

Bellwether froze at the entrance to the abandoned house, not daring to move. She'd never felt so scared. The temptation to run away screaming was overwhelming, but she held strong. _Not for myself, my father_ , she reminded herself, and took a step in the house.

The wolf disappeared in the darkness of the house for a moment, but reappeared when a candle light came on. The candle sat in the middle of a round table with fours chairs on all sides, the wooden furniture slightly slanted like the rest of the house. The sheep was afraid the candle would tip over and set a blaze to the house—or worse, the rainforest.

The assassin sat in one of the four chairs near the table. He glanced at her, giving Bellwether a silent message. _Sit._

She didn't hesitate to do so, and sat in one of the chairs, removing her hood. She couldn't help but stare at the giant wolf, and he stared back. She finally gathered the courage to ask a question that had been jumping in her skull ever since she'd met the wolf. "Are you… Are you a dire wolf?" The sheep ask, her tone filled with nervousness.

A growl-chuckle came from the giant wolf as he crossed one leg over the other. "Well, aren't you the observant one."

The sheep's brow rose. "But I thought your kind went extinct a thousand years ago?" And she knew the reason why, but didn't want to anger the giant predator.

"And do you know why my kind had almost been wiped off the face of the earth?" His mouth was stretched into a grin, and his sharp death flashed in the candle light. Was he hiding his anger? Bellwether shivered, afraid to answer the question.

"Because… Because unlike many predator species, yours refused to stop using prey as a food source. So we did a genocide of your kind and any other species that refused to stop hunting prey." She answered, not daring to glance into the dire wolf's black eyes.

The skin above the beast's eyes arched, a growl escaped through the knifes he called his teeth. "Exactly, so tell me, sheep: if I let you leave my house, will you run back to the City Hall and order to have me killed or will you keep silent like a good little sheep?" He growled, uncrossing his legs, glaring into Bellwether's grey eyes.

The mayor pushed back the urge to look away. Those black predator eyes… She could see the hunger and death that was targeted at her. She just wanted to get this over with and leave. Not for myself, for my father.

"No," she said, barely audible.,

The wolf growled again. "Speak louder, prey." She shivered at the word "prey" for some reason. It made her feel like… Like food.

"No," she said as loud as she dared too.

He sat back in his chair and crossed his legs again. "Better." He said, then got to the main subject. "Now, if I remember right, you had a job for me, correct?"

She nodded, clutching her trembling hooves.

"Good—what is it then." He sounded inpatient, angry even. And she didn't want to wonder why. His black, hungry eyes said enough to shut her up.

She quickly slipped out a picture of Nick Wilde, the same one she'd shown Cain: the fox curled up covered in his own blood and mud and torn clothes. "I have two targets for you, I want you to get rid of this fox first—Nick Wilde." The wolf stared at the picture, his dark eyes widened a bit.

The dire wolf said, sitting up in his chair, "you sure he's not already dead? That picture sure does make it look that way."

"It was my first attempt at killing him, but, miraculously, he survived. And now he's in the care of the Zootopia Hospital, healing." Bellwether continued. "I think it would be best if you killed him while he's still disabled."

The sheep heard the wolf clenched its powerful jaw—he could probably crush steel with it. He gave a glare that could've made a demon piss itself. "Do you mock me, sheep?" He asked, his deep voice almost shaking the table. " Your asking me, one of the greatest assassin in the world, to do something as wimpy as to kill an injured fox!" A malice grin then stretched across the beast's face. "Or is that… You have a death wish, and want to experience being eaten alive." He chuckled, flashing his sharp teeth again. Bellwether noticed the candle lights made some blood-stains in his teeth visible. She felt herself shrinking in the chair she sat in.

Panicked, she gathered enough air in her lungs to say. "Y-you could wait until he's fully healed." She gulped. " I mean, I heard it will be one more week until he's fully healed." But it would slow down her plans, greatly.

The rage in the dire wolf's expression faded just a bit. "And my second target?" He asked.

Bellwether had already slipped out the picture that Cain had taken a week ago: Jonas standing at Jamal's funeral.

"Jonas Wolfson: a number one ranked solider in the military." She said.

The dire wolf's brow rose. "Ranked number one, eh? I could use a decent challenge." He said, with a slight grin

Bellwether cracked a smile. "Oh trust me, you'll get a challenge out of this one." She slipped the picture back into her coat pocket. Her smile dropped. "But I need them both dead, quickly."

A malice grin grew on the dire wolf's face. "And may I ask, why are you in such a rush to kill these two." He asked.

Bellwether glanced away from the dire wolf. "It's… It's—personal." She said. Not in a million years would she tell the real reason to why she needed Jonas and Nick dead. It would be her death sentence.

The wolf chuckled. "Personal, huh? Well, I guess I can accept that answer." He got from his chair and ambled over to a box laying against the molded wall of his house. He opened the box and pulled out a disfigured corpse: a bunny.

The bunny was male and had been striped of his clothes, revealing his naked body. His throat had been slashed and his stomach gutted, some intestines of its hanging out. The dire wolf licked it's lips and bit off the bunny's head. Blood streamed down his cheek as he chewed it.

Her stomach lurched as she heard the cracking of the bunny's head between the dire wolf's iron teeth, and the blood springing from the body in the wolf's giant paw. She fell out of her chair and vomited on the moss covered floor, gasping.

The dire wolf laughed so hard he almost spit out his food. _Prey: they have such weak stomachs._ He continued to chew the bunny's head, a grin stretched across his face.

He swallowed, licking his blood stained lips. "I'll have those two targets of yours dead in two weeks or so. And after that, you'd better have my money, sheep; the exact amount: $5,000."

Recovery, Bellwether nodded and stood to her shaking feet.

The dire wolf pointed a finger at his door. "Out." Was all he said.

Bellwether practically ran out the old house, keeping as much distance as she could from the wolf.

The wolf stared out his door as Bellwether disappeared in the trees and bushes of the rainforest. He licked his lips in hunger and malice. Maybe, if that she comes back to pay me, I'll eat her and take the money. A double treat. He chuckled to himself and shut the door to his house, and continued to eat the dead bunny.

Luckily, she'd memorized the trial back to her car.

She couldn't banish the image of the dire wolf eating the bunny from her mind. That wolf—that dire wolf had eaten a dead corpse. A male bunny. Does that wolf still hunt for prey? Dumb question, but still…

How many times has he hunted down prey? How long has he been living in the abandon section of the rainforest district? That question made her skin crawl. That bunny he'd hunted down and killed and stuffed inside a box in his house… Why wasn't that bunny reported missing. The ZPD… Someone… Would've at least noticed that bunny went missing, right?

Suddenly, her phone buzzed inside her coat pocket. Still driving, she slipped her phone out of her jacket. And what she saw next made her heart wail at her rib cage.

 **Amber alert: Thomas Carrotson has been reported missing.**

 **Species: bunny.**

 **Age: 25.**

 **Last seen: yesterday in the rain forest district. Reward: $300 to any useful information.**

 **$2000 if found.**

Bellwether was second from vomiting in her car. Thomas Carrotson… Was gone… For good. And only she knew his fate. No, not just her, that dire wolf, too. An image of the headless bunny corpse flashed in her mind. She swallowed the bile building up in her throat. That dire wolf still hunted prey, still eats prey. And for some reason—for some obvious reason—Bellwether felt like she'd made a mistake.


	2. A Warning or Threat

_City Hall: 10:51 pm_

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Lightning and thunder danced in the dark, black sky, their movements of energy and sound in perfect harmony. Rain stormed from the caliginous clouds above, rinsing the city of any grime remains.

Having just left her office, Mayor Bellwether stalked the lobby of City Hall, alone. A few hours earlier, She'd ordered all her body guards to go home, no matter how much they protested about her safety. She could fight for herself, she had explained to her guards. And they all gave her looks of disbelief—some had looked like there were desperately holding back smirks. She had to restrain herself from pulling out her hidden pistol and putting a bullet through each of their thick, hollow skulls.

She could fight for herself, and win every time. She knew for a fact that was true. She knew she was powerful. Of course, she wasn't going to tell anyone else that.

Besides, she needed time to herself anyway. The word 'alone' now sounded foreign to her, ever since she became mayor, that is. Her personal time was always ripped from her by stacks and stacks of paper work and constant visits from other, supposedly, important mammals within the Zootopian residents. All of those important mammals discussed the same topic: predator's rights. Conference after conference she had to tell that same lie about how she would fix the savage attacks through some peace rally Gazelle had suggested. _Great; now I have to waste_ _my time with this trash_ , she had thought when she was in a conference with Graze and Gazelle. These predator problems were beginning to weigh down on her shoulders, becoming too much to handle. And she was seconds away from releasing her wrath on this city, the world, these mammals. It was all becoming too much to handle, but she had to stick to the mission she was given. So she bore with the constant meetings and news reports of savage attacks, all of it to carry out her course of action. For years she had worked to perfect this plan she'd made so many years back, with the assists of people she loved dearly, and she wasn't going to let anyone, or anything, stand in her way.

Judy Hopps was close to becoming that 'anyone'. A day back, via specially designed phones, one of her spies had reported that Nick Wilde—the same damn fox that had miraculously survived the brutal beating given by the courtesy of her rhino cohorts—had saved the bunny cop from the blazing flames of the ZPD. And both had been sent straight to the hospital.

While Bellwether had used Judy like a puppet to get herself to power, she, surprisingly, had warmed up to the bunny, just a bit though. Judy was easy to make friends with—and to manipulate. But if she ever got in her way… She would kill her, without hesitation. And now, since she and that fox had been sent to the same hospital, possibly meeting up with one another, she might just have to kill Judy.

Nick Wilde knew too much, and possibly could've fathomed wholeness of her scheme. And with so many prey mammals looking up to Judy as a savior—a hero, they could easily sway Zootopia to turn against its government. Judy and Nick—together… They put her power and plans in peril.

Perhaps she should assassinate Judy anyway, just in case. Then again, maybe she could manipulate her into hating that fox again—fear him. And ask her if she had visited her fox-friend… If he told her anything. If he did, if Nick Wilde told Judy anything of her plans… the bunny would have to die; so did that fox. They were too dangerous together. Besides, she had killed many, many times before, putting down Judy wouldn't have any effect on her. Bellwether then thought, I wonder how loud I can make that bunny scream? Having her rhino beat Nick Wilde half to death had brought such immense pleasure to her black heart. Maybe, for the fun of it, she would have Judy kidnapped and strapped to a table, then have her tortured her countless hours. Excitement blossomed within Bellwether's black heart. She grinned.

Breaking Judy… Hearing her scream in agony, watching her sob into from sorrow and shame, seeing the life slowly drain away from those beautiful violet eyes, excited the sheep deeply… Very, very deeply.

Lightning flashed and thunder roared as Bellwether ambled to the exit of city hall—a black coat enveloping her dress and a hood hanging low over her face, concealing her features. She hated the rain, and the cold. And since August was Zootopia's rainy season, she despised the outsides.

When the City Hall exit came insight—the wind and rain wailing against the glass doors—Bellwether stopped in her tracks at the sight of a silhouette standing in front of the twin glass doors. It stood four inches taller than Bellwether, its body toned, and wore a coat—which she couldn't define the color from her distance—drenched in rain water.

Bellwether didn't flinch as the figure inched closer. She wasn't afraid—not of this shadow, not of anyone. Her body tensed, expecting a full-on-fight or an assassination attempt at gun-point. But neither happened.

The silhouette came into the dinky light that poured in through the four windows aligned on either side of the wall. And a thrilled, malice grin crept on the sheep's lips, her eyes glowing with annoyance and hatred though. A bunny with jet-black fur stood in front of her, his cold, blue eyes pierced Bellwether's empty gray, glaring daggers.

They both stood in silence, staring, seeing who would blink first.

After a few moments, Bellwether said, "it's too bad the security cameras are on, I'm really tempted to kill you right now."

"I could say the same." The bunny growled, his voice deep and heavy.

Bellwether let out a chuckle that was too innocent and sweet. "You should be happy, you know. What I'm doing, what I'm risking, is for the survival of are species. I'm a savior, and yet, you're here, looking at me as if I were a demon spite from the bits of hell."

The bunny scowled. "You are no savior! A savior wouldn't be the cause of death and hatred and fear. You're a demon, shit out from the bits of hell, like you said. But of course, you're just following orders, right? What else would I expect from one of Arobyn's pets."

Bellwether was laughing at this point, holding her stomach to catch her breath. But inside, her bloodlust roared, wanting to kill—kill the bunny that stood before her.

She clapped her paws as she said, "what a great speech. You must really love to hearing yourself talk, huh? So, tell me: why are you here." Bellwether sneered. "I know you didn't come here just to tell me how much of a bitch I am."

The bunny growled, his soaked jet-black fur gleaming in the dim light. "To warn you." He said.

Bellwether lifted a brow. "Warn me? About what?"

The bunny narrowed his eyes, his cold blue now burning with rage. "You keep making these mammals suffer, you continue on with your course of action, and you'll be destroyed. You and your family both." He said.

At this, Bellwether's smile dropped, and her grey eyes hardened. Her face remained blank, neutral. "Let me tell you something, you damned low-life: you or your little cronies try to touch my family—try to kill them, and I'll make sure each and every one of you die very, very slowly." She hissed, her glare not prey-like.

Bellwether saw the skin beneath the bunnies obsidian fur pale. _You should be scared._

The bunny then said, calm—trying to hide his fear, "then, I hope the devil has a special place prepared for you in hell."

There was a flash of a lightning, and the bunny disappeared from where he stood.

"That's if my farther doesn't send you there first." The sheep snarled. Walked forward.

Bellwether left City Hall as if nothing had happened.

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 **I promise the next chapter will be longer.**

 **Tell me what you think in the reviews.**


	3. Judy and Derlin

**This is a scene from chapter 10. Enjoy.**

After I was rendered unconscious by… him—God; she couldn't even say his name without her eyes watering—I later woke up surrounded by flames and debris and smoke. Nick, the fox, came and saved my life shortly after." Judy said, explaining the story of how she escaped the crumbling ZPD alive, her voice hoarse from biting back too many sobs to count.

Her violet eyes flicked to Officer Derlin, who sat in a black chair next to her bed, a yellow notebook rested in his hoof as he scribbled down information of her story.

Derlin was a new recruit of the ZPD, and the mammal Bogo assigned to question her. 1:00 pm was the original Judy was supposed to leave the hospital, according to the doctors. But Bogo had ordered that she be questioned before leaving the hospital, to Judy's disappointment. But she, honestly, couldn't blame the Chief for giving out the particular order. The ZPD was nothing but cinder and ash, therefore, leaving the police force without an interrogation room to question the bunny cop in—or store files.

The new recruit had asked her question after question, each and every one of them having to do with either how she escaped or Nick. Every time Derlin came across a question about Nick or his 'hidden motive' for saving her, she'd scowl, and answer the question with a very, very sharp tone—a tone that made Derlin flinch. The moose ran through both important and annoying questions, again and again, all save for the most important one of all: who was responsible for setting the ZPD ablaze? That question wasn't necessary—not anymore.

The ZPD had already caught the bastard who'd done it.

When Derlin first told Judy who had caused the fire, when he told her who had tied her up in titanium cables and left her to die in the fires of the place she'd dreamt to work in ever since she was a kid, Judy nearly vomited on her bed. To her horror, she'd learned that Officer Wolfred was the criminal—the who had tried to kill her. It was why her throat was raw now—it was why she had to constantly swallow her sobs while telling her story to Derlin.

Another predator, one that she held close and looked up to as a friend ever since working at the ZPD, hated her, and had tried to assassinate her.

"A-are you sure he wasn't framed?" Judy had asked Derlin, heartbroken that Wolferd, a beloved member of the force, would commit such an unforgivable crime—a hate crime.

To Judy's demise, all the evidence that was shown on the table lead to Wolfard—and no one else. He had snuck into her office and shot her with that dart; he had tied her in titanium cables; he had burned down the ZPD using an explosion. All of it had been him. _Did he… Did he really hate me_ _that much?_ She felt a knife run through her heart at the question. _What did he have to go_ _through, what horrors did he_ _have to see, to make… To make_ _such a life-threatening plan?_ A tear, that she had desperately tried to hold back, ran down her fuzzy cheek.

She wiped it away before Derlin could see it.

Derlin had also told her that Wolfred was to be sentenced to death, tomorrow, by gunfire— _gunfire_.

 _If Wolfred were prey, would he be sentenced to_ _death by gunfire then?_ A second blade tore through her heart.

Before, she had intentions to spill everything she knew to the first officer that came to question her, but ever since hearing of Wolfred's fate, she'd had second thoughts about giving the new recruit all her evidence. Now that she knew every predator in Zootopia—and small percentage of prey—wanted her dead, now that she knew trust wasn't something she could depend on anymore, she refused to tell Derlin anything about the night howler serum or Bellwether. If she wanted to expose Bellwether and all her cronies, then she would have to meet Chief Bogo directly—not through a phone or email, directly.

Trust was no longer an option, for her, that is.

She suddenly found herself wanting Nick to be laying beside her in the bed, his arm tucked around her, giving her comfort—helping her cope with all this guilt and shame.

"Is that all, Officer Hopps?" Derlin asked; his green eyes flicked from his yellow notebook to Judy, who lay in her bed, still.

She nodded, sniffing. "Yes… That's all." Her tone was dull, depressing, almost. She couldn't stop thinking about Wolfard.

A normal emotion would be for her to hate him for what he did; she should feel happy that he was being sentenced to death by gunfire, but she didn't. She only felt sympathy. _Why? He tried to kill me._

Maybe it was because she was blaming herself for the wolf's actions. Maybe it was because there were too many mammals that already hated her… And for her to only hate one of them when she'd caused so much suffering… It clawed at her soul.

Visiting Nick, hearing him forgive her for all the mistakes she'd made, all the anguish she'd put him through, redeemed her soul, slightly though. The suffering of the many predators of Zootopia, the world, lingered in her mind like a heavy storm cloud—showery her with agony.

It seemed like nothing would help heal the wounds on her heart.

It wasn't until then that Judy noticed the new recruit's sympathetic gaze. She almost scolded him for it. _I don't need your pity._ She blinked. _Where did that voice come from?_

"Judy." Derlin said, his voice warming her soul like a mother's hug. The bunny turned her attention to him, her eyes glossy from nearly breaking down. "It's not your fault, it was his choice. He decided his own fate, not you."

She wanted to believe him, she truly did, but the rejective words still danced in her skull, around and around, refusing to go away. _But you don't get it, do you? It was my fault, everything—the riots, the hatred, the fear, the deaths—it's all my fault_. She wanted to say that whole sentence to him, argue with him, but she held her tongue. She didn't feel like having an argument.

Instead, Judy gave him a fake smile, saying, "thank you." Her smiled wavered. She hoped Derlin didn't spot it.

Derlin smiled back, nodding. "You're welcome, Hopps." He grunted as he sat up from the black chair. "Now." He paused, cracking his back slightly. "I'll take my leave for today, finish the stacks and stacks of paper work waiting for me at my office. Seriously, I thought with me being a new recruit and all, I would at least have my work to a minimum."

Judy gave the moose a grin that wasn't fake. "I hear you, Derlin—the ZPD didn't give me any slack back when I was a newbie."

The moose chuckled lightly. "Oh, I know. I've heard the stories, courtesy of Clawhauser's big mouth." He said, tucking his yellow notebook in his belt.

"You hearing it from Clawhauser is no surprise." Judy grinned. "Seems that cheetah runs his mouth more than he chomps food."

Derlin laughed lightly. "I agree. Hey, remember that story he told us about him catching Bogo watching that Gazelle app?" He asked, his green eyes brightening, happy. Perhaps, he was happy because he got her to smile—for real.

Judy found herself pleased that Derlin was in here with her.

"How could I ever forget." Judy laughed. "Did you recall how he described the Chief's reaction 'it was like walking in on a teenager watching porn'."

They both bursted out in laughter.

The two continued their pleasant conversation, smiling and laughing. Derlin went on to telling Judy about his embarrassing moments in the academy; one being when he was climbing over the ice wall, he had slipped while jolting over it, landing straight on his crouch, howling in pain.

Judy had laughed herself to tears at the moose's story.

It was times like these that reminded Judy what she was fighting for—fairness, love, and peace. One day… Not today, but one day both her and Nick would rid Zootopia of all the fear and hatred that possessed the citizens. And would replace it with balance of mind among all mammals.

Meeting with Bogo, telling him about Bellwether's sinister actions, would bring her one step closer to that goal.

The moose and bunny talked and talked until Derlin realized he had over-done his stay. With a rushed paw shake and "goodbye", Derlin dashed out of Judy's room, his hoof steps echoing in the hallway.

It had been ten minutes since Derlin had left the bunnies room in a hurry. And Judy had spent that ten minutes watching the clock hanging on the white wall across from her with a lingering gaze, counting the many seconds that went by.


End file.
